Suzanna Spears is very excited about the latest offering from Morgan Community College’s Center for Arts and Community Enrichment (CACE): a night of award-winning short films to be shown at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the historic Sands Theatre in Brush.

The six short films are all from the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF), which CACE has been able to bring to Morgan County for the last three years, according to Spears, the director of CACE.

This will be its first time it is coming to the Sands Theatre, though, she said, and that is possible through a new collaboration between CACE and the Brush Chamber Foundation, which owns and operates the theatre.

“We are so excited about hosting this CACE event at the Sands Theatre in Brush,” Spears said.

She explained how this year’s change in venue came about.

Brush Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Melody Christensen is a member of the CACE committee that selects such events for MCC and CACE to bring to the area.

Spears said that at last year’s Boulder International Film Festival night in Fort Morgan, Christensen had spoken with her and film critic and BIFF representative Walter Shaw about holding the 2018 event in Brush.

It was not unusual for CACE to hold events outside of Fort Morgan, Spears said.

“CACE often schedules venues for events away from the MCC campus to assure easy access to residents throughout the area,” she said. “We all agreed that the historic Sands Theatre would be an amazing venue for this event.”

Since those talks between Christensen, Spears and the BIFF representative happened in spring 2017, members of the Brush community put in more than 3,000 hours to make upgrades and improvements at the Sands Theatre, Spears pointed out.

“Donations were also collected by the Chamber Foundation for seats and refurbishment materials,” she said.

Now the Sands Theatre is up and running again by the Brush Chamber Foundation, it definitely is ready to host the Boulder International Film Festival.

“Our CACE events are free and open to the public, so this is a great opportunity to bring the event to Brush and for community members to visit the theatre to see the work that has been completed through donations and many volunteer hours,” Spears said.

The films

There will be a mix of live-action and animation among the six short films set to be shown Thursday night.

“In a Nutshell” is a short animation from Switzerland directed by Fabio Friedli. It has subtitles.

“From a seed to war, from meat to love, from indifference to apocalypse: This film is an attempt to capture the world in a nutshell,” the film’s synopsis states.

“Two Strangers Who Meet 5 Times” is a short film from the United Kingdom that was directed by Marcus Karkou.

“Two strangers meet at five key turning points over the duration of their lives,” the synopsis states.

“Les Animaux Domestiques” is a short animation from France that was directed by Jean Lecointre. It has subtitles.

“Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, a rich, idle couple, successively adopt a dog, a cat, a fly, a toad and a moth. But they don’t know anything about animals,” the synopsis states.

“The Driver is Red” is a short animated documentary from the United States directed by Randall Christopher.

“Set in Argentina in 1960, this exciting true-crime film follows secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he searches for a mysterious man named Ricardo Klement. What he discovered in the remote outskirts of Buenos Aires would send shock waves around the world,” the synopsis states.

“Watu Wote: All of Us” is a short film from Germany set in Kenya based on a true story. It was directed by Katja Benrath and does have subtitles.

“A bus is taken over by terrorists near Mandera, Kenya, in 2015. With guns pointed at their heads, the Muslims and Christians aboard will help decide their own fates,” the synopsis states.

“The Eleven O’Clock” is a short film from Australia that was directed by Derin Seale.

“The delusional patient of a psychiatrist believes he is actually the psychiatrist. As they each attempt to treat each other, the session gets really weird,” the synopsis states.

One of the goals for CACE is to “bring different cultural perspectives to the area,” Spears said, and showing the mix of international short films offers an opportunity to do just that.

The theatre doors will open at 6 p.m., and MCC CACE will provide popcorn and water to the film festival-goers, she said. Entrance is also free.

“But other concessions will be available for purchase,” Spears said. “Are you craving a frozen pickle juice, or nachos? Come and enjoy an evening of classic movie images in a nostalgic movie setting!”

The films will start at 6:30 p.m., and the evening should conclude by about 8:30 p.m., bringing a close to this year’s Boulder International Film Festival showing in Morgan County.